The present invention relates to a method for accessing a service platform via an Internet browser session, to a servlet for being installed at a web-server of a content provider, a service unit of a content provider having access to a service platform and to an applet for accessing a service platform via an Internet browser session.
Such a method is already known in the art, e.g. from the paper “HOW TO INTEGRATE THE TINA AND THE INTERNET” from the authors Klaus-Peter Eckert et al, first published by COMDEX Enterprise, Frankfurt Germany in September 1998. Therein, is described that the being the de facto standard for the worldwide exchange of all kinds of information has some drawbacks. One of the main drawbacks is that there is no consistent way to identify a user, provide the ability to subscribe, tailor, manage, and/or account his preferred services.
On the other hand there is a service platform, called the TINA service platform in the paper, that fills in this gap in the area of telecommunications and information technology wherein, in contrast to the Internet the service platform provides the means to identify bilaterally the service provider and the service-customers and users.
This paper further extends the service platform for the deployment and usage of telecommunications and information technology services in a way, that the typical Internet user can try out services, called TINA-services and subscribe and tailor them on-line and with respect to security policies and personal preferences.
But still there is no integration of the service platform with the internet, which has the disadvantage that an internet session can not rely on an established infrastructure for service management, (i.e. accounting, billing, deployment, etc.) nor on an advanced business model and that the service session provided by the service platform such as the TINA-service platform can not be used to accommodate simple services as the internet with all the outstanding features that it provides.
A further approach is known from the article “Value-Added Internet: a Pragmatic Tina-Based Path to the Internet and PSTN Integration”, De Zeng et al., Proceedings TINA, Global Convergence of Telecommunications and Distributed Object Computing, 17.11.1997, page 13 to 21.
According to this approach, TINA components accessed via the Internet: The End User is a classical Internet user (in a private or business environment). To enable the End User to enjoy the added value provided by the TINA service platform, additional software incorporating a CORBA client has to be installed in order to make his browser TINA capable. The user is now able to communicate by this additional software with TINA components and initiate a TINA service session. The TINA service platform takes also the role of a connectivity provider. It selects the most appropriate transport technology and establishes the dedicated connection required in order achieving the desired quality of service.
According to this approach, a service is requested by sending a service request via the Internet to the dedicated component of the TINA service architecture. An appropriate service provider is selected by the TINA service platform. The connection between the user and said selected service provider is established on the basis of a request coming from a retailer component of the TINA service platform.